1896.] Psychology. 845 
were filled with bewildered persons. Some limit must be put on the 
popular membership at the next congress, or the scientific people will 
yield the field to the sightseers and amateurs. The other possible im- 
provement comes to the front again apropos of this meeting in Munich 
—the crowded condition of the programme. Besides the general meet- 
ings, which came in the forenoon sessions, the committee arranged for 
five sections, all running simultaneously and all subject to constant give 
and take, as respects their audiences, from one to another. Besides 
the constant interruptions and great confusion which this produced, it 
practically prevented a person from hearing many readers whom he 
especially desired to hear. Since the time limits were not enforced 
upon the papers or discussions, one could never tell how far on this 
section or that had progressed, and so could not time his presence for 
any particular reader. Moreover, the papers were as usual so gener- 
ally accepted by the committee—anyone who wanted to present some- 
thing had only to send his name and topic beforehand—that many 
were read which were of little or no scientific value; and the titles of 
papers were entered on the programme in advance, so that there was 
no way to learn infallibly whether a particular reader had arrived and 
would present his dissertation or not. The gaps left by the absentees 
were consequently quite an unknown quantity. Every such meeting 
should have a committee to read and select from available papers, 
arrange them strictly according to unchangeable time divisions, and 
require each reader to report finally a day or two before the meeting 
as to his actual attendance, the final programme being only then printed. 
This would have the further advantage of ruling out titles and names 
which are from the first doubtful ; for it is astonishing to what an extent 
men fail to carry out what should be their serious intention when they 
give their names to be printed on these Congress programmes. 
So much for the general character of the Congress. Of course, this . 
is not the place for an account, in any detail, of its scientific features, 
The division into sections will show something of the remarkable range 
that modern psychology finds itself obliged to take: “ Normal,” “Sleep 
and Hypnotism,” “ Mental Pathology,” * Neurology,” “ The Senses and 
Psychophysics ”—the titles being somewhat abbreviated in this list. In 
each of the sections there were some great papers and one or more lively 
discussions. The most interesting thing in the way of neurological 
work—it was presented, however, in one of the general meetings—was 
the paper by the veteran Flechsig on “Association Centres.” It will be 
remembered that Prof. Flechsig has been engaged for some time on 
comparative studies of the brains of human infants at different ages, 
59 
